Interconnection Mechanism for Multiple Data Streams

1. A system comprising a processor executing instructions stored in a non-transitory machine-readable memory to provide: a source node configured to send a video stream to display nodes through a network, the source node further comprising: a network controller logic that is configured to receive source control information from a stream manager, wherein the source control information specifies an interchange format and a first segment and a second segment of a video stream to be sent to a first and a second display node to show on adjoining displays served by the first and second display nodes; a streaming logic that is configured to convert the first and second segments of the video stream from a native interchange format to the interchange format and to send only the first segment to the first display node and to send only the second segment to the second display node to show at positions, specified by the stream manager, on the adjoining displays, where the first and second segments are converted from the interchange format into a displayable interchange format in the first and second display nodes; and an area of interest processor configured to decompose the video stream into the first and second segments.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the source node further includes logic configured to: form data packets to represent each of the first and second segments in the video stream; and send the data packets to the first and second display nodes, where each data packet is sent to one of the first and second display nodes based on an indicated destination of a corresponding video segment, and where the indicated destination of the corresponding video segment is assigned by the area of interest processor.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the source node further includes logic configured to send capabilities data to the stream manager such that the stream manager can use the capabilities data to select the interchange format, wherein the capabilities data represents one or more video signal processing capabilities of the source node, and wherein each of the first and second segments is different.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein the area of interest processor is further configured so that the indicated destinations of the first and second segments that are sent through the network are different for each of the first and second segments.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the streaming logic is further configured so that the first and second segments of the video stream sent through the network to the respective adjoining displays collectively present a display wall, the display wall displaying the video stream in real time, and wherein the first and second segments do not include occluded portions of the video stream.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the interchange format specifies a data rate reduction technique, and wherein decomposing the video stream into the first and second segments is based on a displayable area of the video stream on each of the first and second display nodes.

7. A method for sending a video stream from a source node to a display node through a network, the method comprising: in the source node, receiving source control information from a stream manager, wherein the source control information specifies an interchange format and a first segment and a second segment of a video stream to be sent to a first and a second display node to show on adjoining displays served by the first and second display nodes; converting the first and second segments of the video stream from a native interchange format to the interchange format; sending only the first segment to the first display node and sending only the second segment to the second display node through the network in the interchange format to display at positions, specified by the stream manager, on the adjoining displays; and in the first and second display nodes, converting the first and second segments of the video stream from the interchange format to a displayable interchange format.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising: forming data packets to represent the video stream; addressing the data packets to the first and second display nodes; and synchronizing the first and second display nodes by broadcasting a synchronization packet.

9. The method of claim 7 further comprising: in the source node, sending capabilities data to the stream manager such that the stream manager can use the capabilities data to select the interchange format, wherein the capabilities data represents one or more video signal processing capabilities of the source node.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein the first and second segments of the video stream sent through the network to the first and second display nodes are different for at least two of the first and second display nodes, and wherein the first and second segments are generated from the video stream based on a displayable area of the video stream on each of the first and second display nodes.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein the adjoining displays served by the first and second display nodes collectively present a display wall, and wherein the first and second segments of the video stream do not include occluded areas of the video stream.

12. The method of claim 7 wherein the interchange format specifies a data rate reduction technique, and wherein the first and second segments are different segments of the video stream.

13. A system comprising a processor executing instructions stored in a non-transitory machine-readable memory to provide: first and second display nodes configured for use in a video distribution system for receiving first and second segments of a video stream from first and second source nodes through a network, the first display node receiving only the first segment and the second display node receiving only the second segment, the first and the second display nodes to show on adjoining displays, the display node further comprising: a network control logic that is configured to receive destination control information from a stream manager, wherein the destination control information specifies an interchange format and first and second locations on a display device to position the first and second segments of the video stream; a stream receiving logic that is configured to receive the first and second segments of the video stream through the network in the interchange format from the first and second source nodes and convert the video stream to a displayable interchange format; and a display driving logic for displaying the first and second segments of the video stream on the display device at the specified locations.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the interchange format specifies a digital format for the video stream, and wherein each of the first and second segments is generated by a different source node of the first and second source nodes.

15. The system of claim 13 wherein the first and second display nodes are further configured to: send capabilities data to the stream manager such that the stream manager can use the capabilities data to select the interchange format, wherein the capabilities data represents one or more video signal processing capabilities of the first and second display nodes.

16. The system of claim 13 wherein the first and second display nodes are further configured to: send capabilities data to the stream manager such that the stream manager can use the capabilities data to select the interchange format, wherein the capabilities data represents one or more video signal processing capabilities of a display monitor coupled to one of the first and second display nodes.

17. The system of claim 13 wherein the each of the first and second display nodes each drive a display monitor that is juxtaposed with one or more respective additional display monitors that are driven by another of the first and second display nodes wherein the display monitor and the one or more additional display monitors collectively present a display wall, and wherein each location in the plurality of locations is a different location.

18. The system of claim 13 wherein the interchange format specifies a data rate reduction technique, and wherein the first and second display nodes compose the plurality of segments into the video stream.

19. A method for receiving only a first segment of a first video stream at a first display node from a first source node and only a second segment of a second video stream at a second display node from a second source node through a network, the method comprising: in the first and second source nodes, extracting the first and second segments from the first and second video streams and converting the first and second segments from a native interchange format to an interchange format, in the first and second display nodes, receiving destination control information from a stream manager, wherein the destination control information specifies the interchange format and a first and a second location on a display device to position the first and second segments where the first and the second display nodes show on adjoining displays, receiving the first and second segments through the network in the interchange format from the first and second source nodes, converting the first and second segments from the interchange format to a displayable interchange format, and displaying the first and second segments on the display device at the first and second locations.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the interchange format specifies a digital format for the first and second video streams, a bit-rate of the interchange format being less than an available bandwidth of the network, and wherein the first segment is generated by first source node, and the second segment is generated by the second source node, the first source node being different from the second source node.

21. The method of claim 19 further comprising: in the first and second display nodes, sending capabilities data to the stream manager such that the stream manager can use the capabilities data to select the interchange format, wherein the capabilities data represents one or more video signal processing capabilities of the first and second display nodes, and wherein the first and second locations are different locations.

22. The method of claim 19 further comprising: in the first and second display nodes, sending capabilities data to the stream manager such that the stream manager can use the capabilities data to select the interchange format, wherein the capabilities data represents one or more video signal processing capabilities of a display monitor coupled to one of the first and second display nodes.

23. The method of claim 19 wherein the each of the first and second display nodes drives a display monitor that is juxtaposed with one or more respective additional display monitors that are driven by another of the first and second display nodes wherein the display monitor and the one or more additional display monitors collectively present a display wall.

24. The method of claim 19 wherein the interchange format specifies a data rate reduction technique, and the first and second display nodes receive one or more additional video streams from one or more additional source nodes, the first and second display nodes each including a video compositor configured to display each of the one or more additional video streams on the display device at specified locations.